Singers from the Music 2 Change apostolate set the tone for the inauguration.

Puebla, Mexico. March 13, 2009. This year’s Youth and Family
Encounter in Puebla, Mexico gathered over 7,000 people from March
13-15 at the Andes Institute for a weekend of talks,
activities, presentations, and apostolate displays for all ages.

View the
photo gallery to catch a glimpse of the weekend’s
activities.

During the YFE, Father Alvaro Corcuera delivered three separate addresses.
• A question & answer session with the youth on
Saturday, March 13 in the morning.• A homily during the
Mass on March 13 at midday.• A conference with the
youth and families on March 13 in the afternoon.

The event started off with an explosion of
light, color, and sound at the inauguration ceremony, thanks to
the Regnum Christi youth participating in an apostolate called Music
to Change (MC2), which aims to evangelize and impart values
through music. M2C artist Ale Rojas performed the theme song,
“One heart and one soul” as a duet with consecrated
woman María Elena Escobedo. There was also a choreographed dance
with a dozen young men and women performing.

After the
inauguration, one of the first activities at the YFE was

"Hollygood": more than just entertainment.

a holy hour, which was organized by Ancora club members,
whose special mission is to pray for vocations and for
the Pope’s intentions.

Saturday’s activities included programs for all ages.
On Saturday, 250 girls from Club Giro (the Mexican version
of Challenge Club) put on an event called “Hollygood” to
transmit values through activities, musical performances, testimonies, contests, and more.

Boys from Club Faro (similar to Conquest Club) joined the
girls for a Marian pilgrimage to a chapel in Puebla
dedicated to the Rosary. On their way, the boys and
girls prayed their rosary and sang songs in honor of
the Blessed Virgin.

Building the Church

Regnum Christi members of all ages
represented over 60 apostolates on display. There was a lot
of mutual interest in all of the apostolates, as members
visited each stand and spontaneously shared experiences and information. Throughout,
as one participant noted, there was a strong family spirit
and an almost palpable positive dynamism, a shared enthusiasm for
doing good to others through their various apostolic works.

The YFE

The participants discuss practical applications of the Aparecida document for their own pastoral work.

also included some events specifically for diocesan priests. On Friday,
March 13, the Logos Pastoral Center (similar to the Sacerdos
Institute) organized a meeting for close to 50 diocesan priests
and seminarians. The purpose of the meeting was to reflect
together on practical ways to apply resolutions that the bishops
of Latin America had made in their latest meeting in
Aparecida, Brazil. In short, the meeting was a concrete way
to support the Church in the key objectives defined by
the bishops of Mexico. It was led by Manuel Gómez
Granado, a member of the Pontifical Council for Justice and
Peace who had participated in the Aparecido Meeting as an
expert on social issues.

Bishop Francisco Moreno Barrón reflects on the
importance of unity

On Sunday, March 14, Bishop Francisco Moreno Barrón,

Bishop Francisco Moreno Barrón, bishop of Tlaxcala, presided over the closing Mass at the Puebla YFE.

from Tlaxcala, celebrated the conclusive Mass, during which dozens of
children also made their first communions.

During his homily, he encouraged
Regnum Christi members to live out their motto as a
witness to the world.

“If Jesus appeared to us, who could
resist him? But he has chosen to entrust his credibility
to our witness of life. It is up to us
to make the dead and risen Christ be known as
the one sent by the Father, so that many people
will open their hearts to him as their Lord and
Savior.”

“That’s why the motto you have chosen for this encounter
sounds so good! ‘With one heart and one soul.’ Our
unity is an excellent way to proclaim Christ. If we
were disunited, unable to speak clearly, each one with his
or her own point of view, stuck in our own
interests, we would be unable to show the authentic face
of Jesus to the world. But united around the Pope,
in communion with the bishops, united together as brothers and
sisters, we are an overwhelming force and a testimony that
can set the world ablaze with the power of his
love.”

“Sisters, brothers, Jesus himself prayed to his heavenly Father for
all of us. ‘Let them be one as you, Father,
and I are one, so that the world will believe
that you sent me.’ Pope Benedict XVI recently sent all
of the bishops a letter, reminding us in a very
simple way that the way to be credible witnesses is
by communion, by unity. So, this encounter has marked the
path for this Legionary family, for Regnum Christi, but it
is the same path as the Church. We have to
proclaim the dead and risen Christ by our witness of
the power of unity.”